A Changing Situation
by Serena
Summary: The situation has changed for two men on the run. YAOI warning. Features Zack, Cloud and evil Apples. Set in FF7 Crisis Core universe. Rated M just in case.


A/N : It started off as a regular fic, but halfway, it became an unintentional first attempt at yaoi that's available for the world to see. Seriously. I'm utterly scared, horrified and embarrassed hides

You'll have to wade through the first G-rated half of this ficlet first before reaching the PG-13/NC-17 parts.

Contains spoilers for FF7 Crisis Core, and possible AU because Squeenix didn't tell us enough about these two yummy bishies. Standard disclaimer clauses apply; all characters are copyright of Square Enix.

This fic takes place sometime after Zack and Cloud escaped from Nibelheim.

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**v - εуλ 0007, early Spring**

A gloved hand waved up and down in front of blue Mako-enhanced eyes. Once. Twice.

Then, two gloved hands were placed on the shoulders. The younger companion was gently shaken, but unfortunately, he did not stir.

With an indignitant "Bah!", Zack Fair threw his arms up into the air, signaling that he'd given up on his unresponsive partner – for now.

Zack angrily rose from where he knelt, fingers itching to fire up some Materia, but he caught himself before he unleashed any his pent-up emotions. Having a very strong D.M.W. capability coupled with rising fury at the most importune moment usually resulted in embarrassing, even unpleasant outcomes. _Focus, Zack, focus_, he berated himself.

He methodically brushed off dust and gravel from his pants, and smoothened his swept-back hair; simple acts that bring calm back to his mind. Like clockwork, Zack then firmly pulled out the Buster Sword from his back. Holding the broad, heavy steel sword straight up, he rested his forehead on the cold blade and closed his eyes in concentration. He willed the grey metal to telepathically communicate with him, and reveal all the answers which he desperately needed – a feat which, unfortunately, did not materialize.

"Angeal… what do I do?" he asked no one in particular.

"Hold on to your dreams and pride, SOLDIER," Angeal said many times. But what else could one hold on to, when he had been branded as a criminal-cum-renegade, a lab experiment escapee, and regarded as dead to everyone he had known?

He tried to focus on some happier memories… like successfully evading a random encounter with jungle bandits earlier that afternoon. The incident was still fresh in his mind and he could replay the scene over and over inside his head, like an excited kid who had just watched his first Lord of the Chocobos movie. It was the stuff that made superheroes from the drudgery of being an everyday _ex_-First Class SOLDIER being relentlessly pursued by the world's most powerful corporation.

Smirking indulgently, Zack recalled how he managed to climb up a rocky wall with daggers and shrapnel whizzing past, swung from tree to tree using gnarled vines, and expertly avoiding massive boulders and gigantic tree trunks while literally, flying past leafy canopies like Bahamuts on booze. Finally, he reached a dead end, which happened to be the edge of a cliff of at least eighty feet above ground. Unfazed, he leapt anyway and sent himself sailing through the air like a newborn Phoenix. Laughing, he crash-landed unceremoniously, and without even losing his momentum, he dashed forward to disappear into the thick undergrowth. Odin would have been impressed by the spectacle, indeed. The jungle bandits never got the chance to catch up on Zack, who amazingly, had a semi-comatose Cloud Strife safely secured in his arms throughout the entire commotion.

Zack coughed and realized he had held his breath far too long than necessary. At least the gloominess had dissipated, and his heart, a tad lighter than before. Feeling his former, more optimistic self returning, he began to take stock of his situation, and beheld the sight in the horizon.

The sun was setting behind some faraway hills, casting a surreal, fiery orange glow upon miles and miles of surrounding grasslands, a single river running across the fields, and a few trees which managed to take root and grow despite the thin layer of soil. Dusk was fast approaching, and Zack felt goosebumps rising on his bare arms as he felt the first cooling breeze of the evening.

He studied his hastily set-up shelter underneath one of the trees by the riverside. It consisted no more than a patched-up waterproof canvas roof held up by carefully-placed branches, and a double bedroll on the slightly damp mossy ground. It wasn't as luxurious as a Shinra-sponsored summer camp for juvenile Third Classes, nor was it an as comfortable as an executive-only excursion in the Cosmo Canyon National Parks, but at least he made sure he had a small campfire going to keep away wild animals, and to keep themselves warm for the night. With a half-eaten pheasant roast on one side of the crackling pit of fire and coal, and half a small pot of bubbling rabbit stew on the other, Zack wondered (with his trademark satisfied grin plastered on his face) if he'd make quite a competent forest ranger armed with admirable hunting, trapping and culinary skills (in his _own _opinion, of course).

Zack heard a soft moan. He let out a loud sigh, drooped his shoulders in his own typical fashion, and remembered_ why_ he was out here in the desolate wilderness in the first place.

"No, I don't understand it either, Cloud," he replied while shaking his head.

"But don't worry. I'll never abandon you, no matter what happens," the black-haired man continued as he turned towards his blond companion.

Zack squatted next to Cloud, a little disappointed to find that the blond was staring into space, as usual. "I'll take _good_ care of you, kid," he said with a smile as he proceeded to ruffle the spiky blond hair which, coincidentally, looked like a baby Chocobo's feathered bottom. He couldn't help but to grin again; the young boy looked too cute, sometimes.

"After all, we're _best_ friends, right?"

There was only silence in answer.

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**(FLASHBACK)**

"Say aaaaaaah…"

_Clunk. Clunk._

"C'mon, Cloud... You haven't eaten anything since yesterday…"

_A frustrated groan. Clunk. Clang._

"Pretty please? I'll do the sexy Chocobo mating dance for you…?"

_Clang. Clang._

After a few minutes of futile attempts to spoon the warm, thick gooey stuff into that stubborn mouth, Zack decided that he'd have to pack up the rabbit stew for the next day. Never mind solid food, he couldn't even feed the immobile boy any form of soup or liquids. Normally, Zack wouldn't worry about going hungry for a few days because SOLDIERs were trained – no, built – to withstand long periods in inhumane conditions, which included lack of nutrition and most essential supplies.

Cloud, however, was not a SOLDIER. And that was worrying Zack a _lot_.

Tell Zack to jump off a helicopter from dizzying heights and to land on a narrow strip of train roof, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Order Zack to run on a head-on collision with anything with four legs (or more), with well over thousands of hitpoints and loaded with an arsenal of lethal magic, he'd obey like a puppy and do it anyway.

In fact, if his superiors politely asked him to stay underwater for an hour, live in a scorching desert for a month, or fight alone against an entire army of angry Wutanese warriors, he'd probably _not_ think twice before rushing ahead. Because that's what SOLDIERs are capable of – beyond human capability, strength and endurance.

Which Cloud was not, unfortunately.

A few sips of water throughout the day isn't enough to sustain a normal person, Zack thought. Under the shade of their shelter's tree, he could feel the afternoon heat slowly giving way to the evening chill. If things didn't improve, a cold night would mean a feverish, sick Cloud the next morning, and that would be bigger problems for Zack, considering their endless plight to escape Shinra assassins.

"Hold on there, kid. Let's see what ol' Zack has for ya…"

And as luck would have it, a quick rummage in their rucksack yielded some ripe red apples, fresh from the forests they had foraged prior to the bandit ambush; everything else in the bag was either freeze-dried or canned, packed by high-tech Shinra food-processing technology, and probably loaded with chemicals and preservatives that made it unsuitable for a weakened person such as his blond companion.

"So which is it, Cloud? You want apples? Or something else?" Zack called out, but expecting no answer in return. He had been used to talking to himself ever since they were on the run.

"I know, they look good, huh. Apples it is, then," Zack replied enthusiastically. He imagined he could _hear_ Cloud, pretending to have a sane conversation in the insane situation he'd been in for the past few weeks.. or was it months?

"I wonder if Cloud prefers his apples diced, juiced or sliced?" Zack asked himself.

While Zack debated his predicament in endless internal monologues, he unknowingly munched on one of the apples. It wasn't as sweet as the well-known Stupid Apples, being the wild variety instead of farmed ones, but at least it was healthy food – and _damn_ juicy too.

Zack realized that Cloud seemed to be gazing at the apple in his hands. His eyelids were lowered, his cheeks were slightly flushed from daylight, and soft, stray locks of blond hair hung over his face, half-concealing a unintentionally coy, demure look. Soft, petal-pink lips parted slightly, as though in askance for a taste of the fruit. Zack abruptly swallowed for some inexplicable reason, nearly choking on a chunk of half-chewed apple.

Zack cleared his throat, cautiously pinched out a small piece of the fruit and gently placed it on Cloud's lips, silently hoping that the boy would lick it off his fingers. Vague, suggestive images started to form at the back of Zack's mind.

Zack reasoned that he needed to get his regular fix of R-rated movies the next time he stopped by a video store. He was just trying to feed the boy, and being out alone in the wilderness for such a long time with a companion as unresponsive as a wall… tends to do funny things to one's mind… right?

"Wake up, Cloud. I know you want some," Zack whispered, trying to be playful yet failing miserably at the same time, as he crawled closer to his companion until he could feel the boy's breath against his own cheeks, his gaze never leaving the boy's lips. Still, Cloud did not respond.

"Take it. Swallow it. Please? For me?" Zack refused to relent, and with his heartbeat racing, he slowly pressed the sticky morsel past those lovely lips. Zack watched, anxiously and enthralled, as Cloud finally responded, chewed the piece of fruit, and ever so slowly, to Zack's brief elation, swallowed it.

Zack's vocabulary to describe Cloud had always been somewhere along the lines of "cute", "kid" or something Chocobo-related, but his long-suppressed libido decided, at that point of time, to add the words enticing, desirable, beautiful, and possibly, much to Zack's surprise, sexy.

A trail of slightly viscious apple juice ran down from Cloud's lips, and Zack instinctively reached forward to lick it off. Perhaps it was Zack's good fortune that Nibelheim boys tend to reach puberty much slower and grow facial hair at a later age, because, he found himself thoroughly enjoying, no, _savouring_, the sensation of his wet tongue against baby smooth skin.

"Zack, you _dog_!" he could hear an imaginary Aeris scolding him from somewhere in the distance.

"Where's your pride, SOLDIER?" another voice joined in, this time from someone he respected long ago.

Fuck, he'd been _alone_ for too long, Zack thought, captivated by the sight of another small juicy piece of apple sliding into that moist, pink mouth. As he shut away those annoying voices in his head – because Zack talked only to _Cloud_, and everything and everyone else is too far away to be considered –, Zack could feel warmth beginning to pool in his groin.

Fuck, this is all going too _slow_, Zack cursed. Without hesitation, he took a bite from the apple and held – nearly grabbed – Cloud's face, and stilled. Glowing blue Mako eyes stared at another pair of similar, but slightly dulled ones. Zack could feel himself blushing harder by the second, his breaths becoming hot and irregular, and his heart pounding so hard against his chest that he thought it might explode at any moment.

"If this is the only way to get you to eat _anything_, then Ifrit be damned, I'll do it," the inner voice of reason snarled. Zack heeded his own advice, threw away all caution and guilt to the wind, closed the final gap, and locked his lips – almost too forcefully, perhaps greedily – upon Cloud's. There was a soft, muffled "mmph!" from the younger boy, but Zack was too engrossed with this new experience, this marvelous sensation, to be aware.

Apple juice had never tasted better for Zack, especially when his senses were framed by the soft tones of smooth skin, the silkiness of youthful lips, the familiar warm scent of someone he had spent many nights together, and the sounds of subtle but lustful growls emanating from deep within his own excited body.

"I'm just caring for you, aren't I?" Zack asked Cloud in his mind, a genuine question that was left unspoken.

An hour and two apples later, Zack wasn't so sure of the answer anymore.

(**END OF FLASHBACK)**

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"What are you thinking?" a familiar, loving voice murmured against his ears. He was usually lost in his own dark, stagnant and cold mako-pungent world, drowning in perpetual cycles of blurry visions and chaotic memories, leaving him physically and spiritually detached from the real world.

But he was certain he _felt_ a tongue licking his left earlobe – the first _real _sensation in an immeasurably long time.

That, and the touching, whispering, caressing, and the unmistakable press of bodily warmth against his back.

Definitely something to think about, if he could weave enough coherent thoughts together.

"What do you see?" again, the voice asked. He decided he liked the way the words rolled, like gentle waves directing him towards.. somewhere. He tried to focus, and could make out a faint memory from the swirls of many others lost in the past.

Black, spiky hair.

An apple.

A kiss.

"Can you feel me?" the voice asked almost lovingly.

He willed his soul to say yes. He was finally feeling something, becoming conscious of someone, heading towards some direction he so desperately wanted to… to… to where? Why? What was happening?

"I promised I'd take good _care_ of you, kid," the voice spoke softly, but there was a subtle difference this time. Gentle, yet, with a hint of something else. Something to do with the emphasis on that promise.

"After all, I'm your best _friend_."

Something didn't sound quite right.

Cloud remained silent in answer.

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Underneath the cloudless, starry nightsky, a gentle breeze blew across the plains. It was quiet and peaceful, the only sounds accompanying the pale silvery light of a full moon were the continuous chirping of crickets, and the occasional hoot of a faraway owl.

Sometimes, the winds carry with them whispers of moans and soft, muted cries of pleasure.

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_Cloud and Zack, under a tree._

_k. i. s. s. i. n. g__…. er, not._

_I'm sorry, I blew it. I wanted it to be something fluffy, innocent and sweet. But look what two servings of mocha cake with extra nuts and icing did to my muse ;;_


End file.
